Pro Football Hall of Fame · Class of 2014 · Now using the same attributes to teach kids to read

Hall of Fame · Class of 2014 · #83

Andre Reed.

951

Receptions

13,198

Receiving Yds

Touchdowns

7×

Pro Bowls

4×

Super Bowls

NFL Seasons

Allentown-born wide receiver, sixteen NFL seasons with the Buffalo Bills, Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2014.

✦ The Career · The Calling

Andre's Journey.

From Allentown to Canton — and back to the kids who needed him.

Andre Reed (center, #33) as a boy with two Pop Warner youth-football teammates in yellow jerseys

★ Milestone

1970s

Pop Warner

A south-side Allentown kid in a yellow Pop Warner jersey — #33, center of the team photo. The start of everything.

1980–81

Dieruff High

Wide receiver #88 at Louis E. Dieruff High School in Allentown — the player his hometown still remembers.

1981–84

Kutztown

D-II walk-on at Kutztown University. Allentown kid betting on himself.

★ Milestone

1985

Drafted

Buffalo Bills, 4th round, pick 86. 48 catches as a rookie on a 2-14 team.

1986

WR1 Breakout

53 rec / 7 TDs — leads the Bills in receptions and touchdowns in year two.

★ Milestone

1988

Pro Bowl I

First of 7 consecutive Pro Bowls (1988–1994).

1989

All-Pro Season

88 rec / 1,312 yds / 9 TDs. First Second-Team All-Pro selection (Associated Press).

1990

All-Pro · Round Two

71 rec / 945 yds / 8 TDs. Second consecutive Second-Team All-Pro.

★ Milestone

1991

Super Bowl XXV

First Bills Super Bowl — Tampa, Giants 20, Bills 19, Wide Right. 81 rec / 1,113 yds / 10 TDs season.

★ Milestone

1992

"The Comeback"

NFL postseason-record 32-point comeback win over the Houston Oilers. Reed: 8 catches / 136 yds / 3 TDs.

★ Milestone

1993

Super Bowl XXVII

8 catches for 152 yds — eclipses Roger Craig (20) as the Super Bowl all-time leader in career receptions.

1993

AFC Champions

Fourth consecutive AFC title, fourth straight Super Bowl trip.

Andre Reed (#83) on the Super Bowl XXVIII sideline, towel over his shoulder pads

★ Milestone

1994

Super Bowl XXVIII

A fourth straight Super Bowl in Atlanta — the last of the Bills’ historic AFC dynasty run.

★ Milestone

1994

Seventh Pro Bowl

90 rec / 1,303 yds. Closes the 1988–1994 Pro Bowl streak that defined the Bills’ AFC era.

1996

Bounce Back

66 rec / 1,036 yds returning from a knee injury that limited 1995 to six games.

1998

Bills Captain

A leader on and off the field — quiet authority in the locker room.

1999

Final Buffalo Season

16 seasons in red, white & blue. Bills all-time leader in receptions, yards, TDs and games played.

★ Milestone

2000

Final Snap

One final season with Washington. Career: 1,036 rec / 14,427 yds / 96 TDs (regular + post).

2006

#83 Honored

Inducted to the Buffalo Bills Wall of Fame.

2007

Kutztown Degree

Returns to finish his bachelor’s at Kutztown University.

★ Milestone

2010

Foundation Born

Andre Reed Foundation founded in Allentown.

2011

Bills Draft Pick

A Bills legend returns to the NFL Draft stage to announce a Buffalo pick — passing the #83 torch forward.

Andre Reed on the NFL Draft stage with the Buffalo Bills first-round pick and commissioner Roger Goodell

2014

Draft Day Honors

On stage with Roger Goodell and the Bills’ first-round pick — a hometown great welcoming the next generation.

★ Milestone

2014

Hall of Fame

Gold jacket, Canton, August 2. "The kid from Allentown — in Canton."

2015

Read 83 Concept

A literacy program built around the jersey number.

★ Milestone

2017

Read with Reed 83

Flagship literacy program launches with Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

2019

Coast to Coast

28 reading rooms. 33 states reached.

2024

Years Strong

Charity Golf Classic running on. $500K+ raised lifetime.

★ Milestone

Today

Onward

Nationwide reach. Goal: all 50 states.

← Drag or scroll → · 29 milestones · 13 hall-of-fame moments

Allentown roots

Before Buffalo, there was a club.

Andre grew up on the south side of Allentown, the youngest of five. Dieruff High School. Boys & Girls Club after the bell. Mentors who showed up and stayed. That’s where the literacy gap, the homework table, and the trust got built — long before any NFL contract.

He walked on at Kutztown — Division II — and outworked the room. The Bills called in ’85. Sixteen seasons later, he came home to do for Allentown kids what that B&G Club had done for him.

Dieruff HighBoys & Girls ClubKutztown D-IILehigh Valley

Canton, Ohio · August 2, 2014

Class of 2014.

“Gold jacket. Bronze bust. The kid from Allentown — in Canton.”

The career, in photos

Sixteen seasons in red, white & blue.

Route running, run-after-catch, four Super Bowls, the tunnel, the locker room, and the draft-day return — #83 on the Bills, frame by frame.

Andre Reed (#83) sprints onto the field out of the inflatable tunnel at the Super Bowl, cheerleaders lining both sides of a packed dome — Super Bowl introductions

Close sideline portrait of Andre Reed in his red Buffalo Bills helmet, late 1980s — Late ’80s · sideline

Andre Reed (#83, blue jersey) raises the football overhead with both arms after a touchdown as the crowd erupts — Touchdown

Andre Reed (#83, blue) runs upfield with the ball after a catch as a Kansas City Chiefs defender (#24) gives chase in the playoffs — 1993 playoffs · vs. Chiefs

Andre Reed (#83, blue) running a pass route downfield in front of a Bills home crowd, late 1980s — Running the route

Andre Reed in the white Bills away jersey (#83) running after the catch as a New York Giants defender (#25) closes in — 1994 · run after catch

Andre Reed (#83, blue) breaks a tackle from a diving Miami Dolphins defensive back, turf flying — Breaking the tackle · vs. Miami

Andre Reed (#83, blue) carries the ball upfield with a New England Patriots defender (#42) trailing, early 1990s — Early ’90s · vs. New England

Andre Reed (#83, blue) runs with the ball tucked, mid-stride, the ball secured to his chest — Eyes upfield

Candid of Andre Reed in the Buffalo Bills locker room holding a folded jacket, teammates seated nearby, early 1990s — In the locker room

Back view of Andre Reed’s white Bills jersey reading “REED 83,” football resting on his hip — REED · 83

Announcing the pick

Off the Field · Est. 2010

Read with Reed 83.

Andre started the Andre Reed Foundation in 2010 to help underprivileged kids reach their full potential. In 2017 he turned his jersey number into a literacy mission: read 83 books, earn a trip to an NFL game — and he carries the message himself, club to club.

Read 83

Kids take the 83-book challenge — top readers earn a game day with Andre.

Reed-ing Rallies

Andre and current NFL players pull up to Boys & Girls Clubs to make reading FUNdamental.

Reading Rooms

The program remodels reading rooms inside the clubs — his name on the wall, books on the shelves.

Andre Reed with NFL quarterback Drew Brees at a Read with Reed 83 Reed-ing Rally at a Boys & Girls Club — Reed-ing Rally · with Drew Brees

Reading rooms remodeled

Boys & Girls Club appearances

States reached

The goal — all 50

From #83 to every reading room.

Donate to the Foundation See Read with Reed →